Automatic safety-brake for elevators



(No Model.)

. w. J. SEATON. AUTOMATIC SAFETY BRAKE FOE ELEVATORS. No. 279,024 PatentedJune 5,1883.

INVENTOR: 5 fi' jzw ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS. FMo-Uthognpher, Washington. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WRIGHT J. snrvroiv, or WYANDOTTE, KANSAS.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY-BRAKE FOR E LEVATO-RSf' SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 279,024, dated June 5, 1883.

Application filed April 3, was. (No moan.)

' To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WRIGHT J. SEATON, of lVyandotte, in the county of W'yandotte and State of Kansas, have invented a new and Im proved Automatic Safety-Brake for Elevators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention consists of a brake for elevators, contrived for automatically operating in case the rope breaks or other accident causes the carriage to fall, also h. ving provision to be set in actionby a person on the carriage in case it should fail to act for any cause, and also arranged to be used as a brake for regulating the descent of the carriage independently of the machinery for operating the carriage, all as hereinafter fully described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the elevatorcarriage and the brake apparatus, also of a portion of the ways in which the carriage runs.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of Fig. 1 on the line y y of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a detail of the gripping device of the brake.

Under the floor a of the carriage, and in a box, 12, suitably attached to each side and in.

suitable relation to the dovetail guide-ribs c of the vertical ways (I, I arrange the blocks or shoes (2 to bear against the front edges of the ribs 0, and the gripping-jaws f to grip the sides of the ribs, and constituting the means of binding the carriage to the ribs for stopping it. The shoes 0, confined in the box I), are fitted on the right and left handed screw-threaded shaft 9, so that when it turns one way they are forced against the ribs to produce the friction for stopping the carriage, and when it turns the other way they relax the pressure and slide along the ribs without resistance. The shoes 6 also have wedging sides 1', which actuate jaws f at the same time that they are thrust against the faces of the ribs, and cause said jaws to grip the sides of the ribs; also, for a means of resisting the descent of the carriage.

It will be seen that by the dovetail form of the rib and its relative arrangement with the besides being suitably.

shoes and jaws-that is to say, so that the jaws draw it toward the shoesthe side pressure of the shoes is counteracted by the jaws, so that the spreading of the ways by the shoes is pre vented and the contraction of the carriage by the jaws iscounteracted, thus avoiding any undue strain either way on the ribs 0.

To set the brake in action in case the can riage-ropej breaks, a rope, is, is stretched from end to end of the range of the carriage and made fast at its ends to timbers Z-m, passing over a grooved pulle w, on shaft 1 and a. tightening-pulley, 0, in a movable support, 12, and having a weighted lever, q, connected to it, which is held out of action in the position represented by the dotted lines in Fig. 2 by the lever s, which has a latch, 1, connecting it with the trip-stud catch a on one of the up rights 0 of the carriage, by which it is tripped when the rope breaks by the spring 20, lever w',and rod 1, the said stud-catch a being attached to the end of rod y, so as to be raised by it when the spring 10, being released from the weight of the carriage, throws down the 7 5 lev'er w and raises up the rod y.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line To enable the person on the carriage to trip lever s in case it should fail for any cause to be tripped automatically, and also to thrust down the weighted lever q, the latch t is piv- S0 oted to lever s, and a small triplever, z, and a handle, a, are applied to said lever, so that by grasping the handle and lever 2 he may dis.- connect the lever s and swing it down so as to throw the tightener 0 on or toward pulley n and set it and the screwsha-ft g in motion. A spring, 12, is also fitted to the lever s to insure its operation. The latch t has a spring, 0, to hold it in engagement with the catch-stud u.

The weighted lever q is fitted on a shaft, (1, that is supported in suitable bearingsunder the floor of the carriage in which to turn properly, and is connected to the tightener by the crotched connecting-rod e and crankf, and to the lever s it is connected by-crauk g and con necting-rod h.

In order that the lever s, latch i, and catch a shall not be subject to much stress of the weighted lever when set, and thus lessen the friction of the parts, so that the action will be more certain, the lever g is so curved and the weight 9" is suspended on it by aroller, k,

whereby it runs down near the fulcrum of the lever to rest until after the trip has been de tached. Another purpose is also accomplished by this movable arrangement of the weight viz., more gradual action of the brake-shoes and gripping-j aws on the guide-ribs 0, thus preventing shocks and jars and undue strain in the stopping of the carriage.

It will be seen that by the proper manipulation of the lever s to regulate the pressure of the tightening-pulley 0 the attendant may set the brakes to govern the descent of the carriage independently of the operating machinery; and in case the brakes should be screwed up too tight they can be released by a pinioir wheel, Z, gearing with a toothed rim, m, on the pulley a, and having a shank, a, to which a socket' wrench or crank may be applied.

For the purposes of a hand-brake to regu the weighted late the descent of the carriage, lever (1 may be dispensed with, the pressure of the hand-lever s (1 alone being employed; but it is better with the weighted lever, because it lessens the labor of the attendant. The spring 0 at the end of the lever q is employed to cushion the stop of the weight-j at the end of the lever.

To insure fair bearing of the faces of the jaws f on the sides of the ribs-c, I have made the face-sections f" separate and connected them to the main portions of the jaws byjoints f, forming substantial connection of said facesections, and allowing them to vibrate suitably for accommodating them to any variations in;

2. In a brake device for an elevatorcarriage,

consisting of right and left screw-shaft g, shoes e, gripping-jaws f, and the guide-ribs c, the

.said guide-ribs and gripping-jaws beveled, so

f with jaws f, ribs 0,

that the stress of the gripping-j aws. counteracts the pi'essure of the shoes, substantially as described.

3. The brake-shoes e, in combination with right and left screw-shaft g, gripping-jaws f, and the guide-ribs c, and having wedge-shaped sides 1 to actuate the jaws, substantially as de scribed.

i. In an elevator brake apparatus, the brakeshoes 0 and gripping-jaws f, arranged in boxes I), attached to the under side of the platform, in combination with the operating-shaft g and means for operatin it, and with the guide-ribs c, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the rope 7a, pulley n, tightener 0, and means for operating the tightener, with the right and left screw-threaded shaft 9 and brake-shoes e of an elevator-carriage, substantially as described.

6. The combination of adj usting face-sections wedge-shoes 0, and the elevator-carriage, substantially as described.

7. The weighted lever q, trip-lever s, latch 1, trip-catch a, rod 1 lever 00, and spring 10, in combination with the tightener 0, rope k, pulley n, and the right and left screw-threaded shaft g, which operates the brake-shoes, substantially as described.

8.. The handle-a and trip-lever z, in combination with the latch t, levers s, catch-stud a, j

and the tightener and rope weighted lever q,

substanfor actuating the brake apparatus, tially as described.

9. The combination, in an automatic tripping apparatus for elevatorcarriages, of a weighted belt-tightening lever, whereon the weight shifts along the lever to or near the fulcrumto relieve the tripping apparatus when set, and runs out along the lever to apply the power when tripped, substantially as described.

10. The combination of pinion Z withthe pulley n, riage, substantially as described.

XVRIGHT J. bEAfllOX.

\Vitnesses:

A. XV. CARROLL, GEORGE STUMPF.

shaft 9, and the brake-shoes and car- 

